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‘DOGGED, determined, professional, organised’. The four words Russ Wilcox used to describe Scunthorpe United’s win at Cheltenham Town on Tuesday could all be associated with a team that wins promotion.There have been pockets of indignation in the stands, but victories in their past three outings have certainly calmed nerves and eased any pressure that may have begun to be placed upon the Iron as a result of their run of draws.It seems somewhat harsh to refer to United as ‘hitting form’ in the midst of a club-record 23 games unbeaten.But since those two late goals at Plymouth Argyle, a game which proved the catalyst for this run of three successive victories, there has undoubtedly been an upturn in the quality of United’s performances.“This stage of the season can become nervy, but at the moment I’d say we are probably going the opposite way,” Wilcox told the Telegraph, ahead of Saturday’s home game with struggling Wycombe Wanderers.“We are showing great confidence and great belief in each other as a group.“We are going out there, expressing ourselves and enjoying each game. It is a nervy time, a touchy time, but we’ve got to just keep doing our business.“It’s fantastic to hit form now. To win three games on the spin at any level is difficult to do, but to do it with three clean sheets is an outstanding return.”

The game at Cheltenham – won courtesy of a brace of goals from Sam Winnall, on the back of a pair of delightful and dangerous free-kicks by Gary McSheffrey – typified the sort of assurance Scunthorpe are playing with at the moment.Their work rate, particularly when it came to defending from the front, forced the Robins to play long and play into their visitors’ hands. United controlled the game with few moments of concern.“There were little bits of quality – which we saw with the two goals, but both set plays were outstanding delivery from McSheffrey,” Wilcox added.“In between the goals was a lot of hard work, a lot of endeavour and a lot of togetherness. It’s great to see.“Seeing out the game has been a key aspect of the last few matches. We’re all learning as a group but it won’t happen every week – sometimes the opposition will throw a ball into our box and get a little bit of luck or a ricochet and something happens.“But 27 times out of 30-odd games we’ve been in front this season, which is unbelievable.“We’ve got a lot of criticism this season for conceding late goals but maybe not enough praise for scoring the first goal. That first goal in a football match is massive.”No side in League Two has notched first in games more times than Scunthorpe United this season.